Stranger Days
by SnowAurora
Summary: A slightly panicked Hopper carries Eleven to the Byer's looking for Joyce. Will hears—bleeding, not from the nose, not because of her powers—and immediately decides that phoning everyone is the best course of action. Chaos ensues.


It's another average peaceful day in Hawkins. It's not too hot or cold, there are birds chirping outside the window— a strange but recurring reminder that this place should be nothing more than that. Of course, everything only appears that way, and the idea of peacefulness shifts again when Will hears a car pull over outside.

Jonathan shouldn't be back yet, he only left an hour ago.

"Joyce! Please tell me you're here!"

For a second he thinks it might be his dad— _but he never says please_ — maybe it's Bob, _but Bob is gone too_ — it's neither, it's the Chief. Hopper visits quite often, but not like this— if he's got a day off on Sunday (he never does) he'd spend it with El in a heartbeat.

Something's wrong. Or maybe he's just paranoid. Nonetheless, Will leaves his drawing aside and decides to peek from the door of his room.

"Hopper?" His mother's voice is laced with similar confusion as she carries the kitchen knife with her to answer the front door.

The Chief is carrying Eleven, her face scrunched up in discomfort.

That's odd.

"Joyce, I need your help—" he says, "the kid— I—I don't know how to deal with this—"

"H-Hopper— slow down, what happened?" His mother breaks focus and cautiously glances out the door, satisfied with the sight of no immediate danger, refocus onto Eleven.

"Bleeding— not from the nose, not because of her powers—I don't—"

And that's all Will needs to hear before he slams his bedroom door shut. A million thoughts race through his head— is it the Upside Down? Demogorgon? Is it back? It's hard to imagine Eleven ever being hurt without using her powers— and God knows the Chief would do anything to protect El. Something's wrong. Something's— _weird_.

The phone— no, that's dangerous, the walkie will do.

 _ **Is anyone there? We have a situation. Over.**_

He waits, and in the meantime listens to the blood pounding in his ears— loud and heavy like approaching footsteps trampling over the outstretched silence.

 _ **Will?**_

 _Thank God_ —

 _ **What's wrong? Are you looking for Jonathan? Over.**_

 _Is he?_

 _ **Uh, no— yes— maybe?**_

 _ **Lucas here, with Max. What's going on? Over.**_

 _Static_ — _**Dustin copies. Over.**_

Everyone's _still_ here.

And whatever this is, they're all probably better judges than himself.

 _ **T-the Chief just came to my house carrying Eleven, I'm not really sure what is happening, a-and the whole situation seems weird. But. El's bleeding, not from the nose, and apparently not because of her powers.**_

There's a moment of silence, and then—

 _ **I'm coming over right now. Out and over.**_

— _Max! Give it back! —..._ _ **Lucas and I are coming over! Out and over.**_

 _ **I'll have Steve drive me —**_ _what am I doing now? —_ _**driving! Out and over.**_

Setting his walkie back on the shelf, Will finds his hand wandering to his heart. This time, he's sure he has no more backlashes from the Upside Down, and the last time time El visited — _Thursday—_ she was fine. They're all coming over— It's probably not as serious as he thinks it might be— but at the same time, what would make the Chief so agitated and desperate to seek help from his mother?

The distant buzz of activity pulls Will out of his head and towards the voices beyond the door. The three of them are closer now— enough for Will to hear them shuffle about the house clearly. A creak of the door, they're in the bathroom— ... to clean up a wound?

" _... — when did this start?"_

" _Just yesterday, I assumed she was using her powers— and the kid didn't say anything until it apparently hurt like hell this morning."_

Despite everything they've been through, apparently it's still something that El decided to deliberately hide from the Chief— a lie to protect, or something else.

Taking a deep breath, Will braces himself and leaves the safety of his room. The bathroom door is left open, privacy apparently unimportant enough to ignore, although the Chief's broad back is still enough to block everything from Will.

"Mom? What happened? Is Eleven okay?"

"Oh," The Chief moves away to reveal his mother, similarly blocking Eleven from view despite her smaller frame. "Hey sweetie," she says with a smile, an awkward one, then, a glance at the Chief before focusing back on him, "nothing's wrong, why don't you go have lunch first?"

 _They're hiding something._

"I— uh, heard b-bleeding. Is there anything I can do to help?"

His mother lets out a soft genuine smile.

"Joyce, have you explained any of this yet?"

"N-no, not yet, not the details, only to Jonathan."

"Well—"

The house rumbles— it's dull, but evidently shaking. Everyone stops and stares for a moment. The lights _don't_ flicker, thank God— Will thinks he might actually break down if it does. Eleven's gotten really good at controlling her powers lately and understands not to use it to scare Will — _Eleven would, she always does, he remembers Mike saying—_ which means—

" _... hurts."_

It's soft and barely above a whisper, but enough for everyone to snap back into focus.

"Sweetheart," his mother says with the soft and sweet tone she seems to have reserved for him and Eleven, "you can lie down in my bed once I get you all cleaned up."

"You sure she's going to be fine?" The Chief askes, having completely forgotten about his previous train of thought.

"Yes, I— we just need some time."

Time is something Will can give. And if they're against sharing whatever it is with him, no more prying will give him an answer. "I'll go have lunch first."

* * *

It's been a while since Will found himself picking on his food. The Chief is fidgety but his mother seems to have everything under control. Eleven's trying, but it hurts enough for her powers to slip. It's something Jonathan knows with detail and Will knows in concept. A memory claws at the back of his mind, but ultimately remains clouded and unknown. Before long, a clink of keys rattle the front door open.

"Will?"

Jonathan.

"Eleven?"

And Mike. And Nancy?

"You okay buddy?"

 _No, not really—_

"Yeah, why are you back so soon?"

"Mike said you called him through the walkie," Jonathan says, placing a comforting hand on Will's shoulder, "he was really worried so I offered him a ride back."

"And he caught us up with everything in the car," says Nancy, "though…" she hesitates, crossing her arms over her chest.

Just then, his mother leaves the bathroom at long last, carrying dirtied trousers— Eleven's trousers. She casts her eyes on the living room, and then does a double take to gather the sudden crowd of people there.

"Jonathan?" She quirks her eyebrows at him, "did you forget something? Why is Mike and Nancy— Nancy!" She pauses, shifting to hold the pair of trousers between her elbow and side, then promptly grabs Nancy by her shoulders, "Come here, I could really use your help!" And she wastes no time dragging Nancy back into the bathroom.

"W-wait—" Jonathan exclaims, equally confused by the situation, "Mom? What is going on?"

"In a minute!" She yells from the bathroom. "Just look after the kids for now!" And this time, slams the bathroom door shut.

The situation was weird, and now it's weirder. He's glad that both Jonathan and Mike is here to witness it.

"Wait so," Mike pauses, taking a deep breath, "why would your mother need _my sister_ rather than you or your brother?"

Will shrugs. Because honestly that's all he can do in response to the events of this peculiar day. "I—uh, it's a long story?"

And so they're gathered around the lunch table, Will doing his best to explain the situation as accurate as he's experienced it.

* * *

Banging at the door startles Will out of his mind— _anything but weird creatures or lab scientists_ —and he's relieved to hear _Steve Harrington_ out of anyone asked to be let in.

"What's going on?" he says with urgency, "I met these two riding their bikes along the way…" he vaguely gestures to Lucas and Max— _since when did they get here?_ — "Do we have another situation?"

"A situation of sorts yes—"

This time, the Chief exits the bathroom, aruptedly silencing everyone with his menacing presence alone. He turns and stares at the sea of people now gathered in the living room, if anyone were to witness this scene and told Will that there was another attack he'd probably believe it. Certainly, it's not something WIll has particularly experienced since he's been at the heart of darkness twice, but more than anything he feels anxious as if they're preparing for a battle, and also— _strangely_ **safe**.

"What're you kids doing here?" he says, expressing a kind of confusion that mirrored the opposing group.

From the hallway, Nancy pops her head out to investigate the Chief's strange reaction, then to gather the amount of people that seemed to have multiplied by minutes, only to have a look of understanding finally dawn on her face.

Mike seems to have noticed his sister's expression as well, and bravely decides to speak up against the suffocating silence. "How's Eleven doing?"

Nancy pauses for a moment, but her composure softens as she fully steps out of the hallway. "She's fine now, but I think you guys should give her some space."

Everyone in Will's view nods and collectively takes a couple of steps backwards. His mother emerges from the bathroom, holding Eleven close. Her expression now visibly more relaxed than when she first came with the Chief— finally, Will feels the tension leave his body as he lets out a relieved sigh.

As promised, his mother carries Eleven to her room, presumably to let her rest on her bed. Nancy exchanges a glance with Jonathan, and then strangely enough, to Steve Harrington as well. The teenagers gather around to discuss, while the Chief makes his way to the kitchen, probably to grab a beer or two from the stash that is now permanently stored in their fridge.

"I am still, _extremely_ confused."

For once, Will finds him and his friends sitting down and letting the adults and or teenagers handle the situation. Out of the corner of his eyes, Will sees Mike fidget, his fingers nervously tapping the couch. Eleven's fine, she needs space, but that doesn't mean they'll stop worrying. Dustin sits on the other side of Mike, but his attention is captured by the teens's soft murmurs, they're just frustratingly out of range for them to make out any words. Lucas seems to stare blankly at the floor, while Max turns her in head in 20 different directions in an attempt to soak up information.

When Jonathan, Nancy and Steve finally make their way towards his friends again, his mother is with them as well. The boys, despite having had a conversation with Nancy about the "issue", seems to have taken sudden interest in the nearby walls and tiles of the floor. His mother lets out a soft chuckle, and then gently guides them forward.

She plants an unsuspecting but nonetheless soft kiss on Will's forehead, settling down next to him. "Eleven's asleep," she says, "she's very tired but you're all welcome to stay and wait for her to wake up. I'm sure she'll be really happy to see all of you."

"What happened?" The words are out of Will's mouth before he even registers it. He swallow and continues, "The bleeding, and…"

"I can tell you if you want," she affectionately drags her hand across his hair, "but I don't think I'm in the position to explain all of this with your friends."

"Why not?"

"It's something you'd want to do with your parents, not your friend's mother— even though we've shared many secrets together."

They have. And Will never would've guessed that he'd be in the centre of it. Maybe he would've wanted a normal life, but when it came to it, he's glad that he could share this secret with his friends— friends that would go to a creepy alternate dimension or fight off monsters with mouth-heads just to save him.

"She's not hurt?" Mike askes.

"No, not anymore."

Eleven's been hurt so, so much.  
They all have.  
Everyone in this house has been through too much.

"But what I can say is that it'll happen again," his mother says, "I'm going to have to sort something out with Hopper to take care of this." She moves to stand up, "Why don't you all wait in my room? Don't wake her, but I think she'll be happy to wake up to all of you."

Once again, everyone nods and settles to move into his mother's room. It's strange, that despite having cleared nothing up, everyone just nods and accepts his mother's words with full trust.

But then again, they've all been through a lot, and Will's had weirder, stranger days.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully it's pretty clear what happened here— when season two ended I tried to think of the next most possible normal-not normal that would cause a somewhat crisis, and here we are. I'm not sure whether or not the kids know about these things? But here's my take just to make things interesting.

As always feedback is welcome because I'm always looking to improve!


End file.
